Tips to Help You Prepare Your Vehicle for the Winter

Although winter isn't here yet, it's a good idea to start preparing your vehicle for the season before it actually arrives. Follow these tips to ensure your vehicle is prepared for the change in the weather.

Keep Your Windshield Clean

Making sure your visibility is at its best is important every time you're on the road, but it can be more difficult during the winter. Inclement weather can cause your windshield to take a beating from the rain, snow, and even ice. If you're caught driving through a storm you want to be sure you can rely on your windshield wipers and wiper fluid to keep your windshield clean. To be sure you're always prepared for a storm, ensure that your windshield wiper fluid is always topped up and not running low. If you didn't change your wipers after summer, they may be a bit dry and brittle, making it harder for them to perform their job. If this is the case, change these as soon as possible in order to avoid being unprepared for the first storm of the upcoming season.

Prepare Your Lights

Some other important parts of your vehicle that contribute to your visibility are the lights. Your lights are not only important because they help you see the road, they also help other drivers see you. While this is important all year long, the winter weather and lack of sunlight during the season make your vehicle's lights just that much more important this season. To prepare your lights, start by ensuring they are all working properly. This includes checking headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals, high beams, and fog lights. If any of these are not working as they should, replace the bulbs. Clean off covering as well since this will help your lights shine brightly. You can use a restoration kit to get foggy or yellowing lights back to normal. If you're expecting particularly low temperatures this winter, waxing the light coverings can help reduce the amount of buildup on your lights.

Give Your Car a Synthetic Oil Change

If you're preparing to give your car an oil change before winter starts, consider making it a synthetic oil change. Synthetic oil is a great investment during the winter because it has the ability to hold onto its fluidity, even in the coldest of temperatures. Unlike conventional oils that become thick and sluggish in the cold, a synthetic oil will remain fluid, helping to protect your engine better over the winter. Even on cold starts, synthetic oil will flow well and coat your engine, helping to reduce premature wear. Before taking your car in to get serviced, be sure to understand all of the benefits of treating your engine to a synthetic oil change in Halfway. If you don't know much about synthetic oil but are interested in learning more, contact ALF Marketing in Halfway. Give them a call at (301) 416-0575 to find the perfect synthetic oil for your engine. Check out their online shop for a full range of AMSOIL Oil products.

Fill up on Fuel

While it's generally a good idea to wait until your car is running on empty to fill up on fuel, this is especially important during the winter months. A less than full fuel tank can allow condensation in which can freeze and cause other damage to the tank and fuel system. Having plenty of fuel in the tank is also a good idea because if your car gets stuck somewhere you can at least rely on the fuel to keep your heater running.

Take Care of Your Tires

As temperatures continue to drop, so will your tire pressure. It's important that you keep an eye on your tires this season because the cold will cause your tires to lose air pressure. Check the pressure every so often and fill them up to the recommended pressure. This will help you have better traction on the road while also helping to reduce the amount of wear your tires suffer. If you're expecting temperatures to drop below 45 degrees, it's a good idea to switch over to winter tires until temperatures start to increase.

Test Your Battery

The cold can have an impact on your battery, especially if you store your car outdoors. Batteries have a harder time operating when temperatures are freezing, something you may have noticed if you've ever tried starting your car early in the morning on a particularly cold day. If your battery is weak coming into the season, it may not make it through the whole winter. If your battery is over 5 years old, definitely consider having it replaced. If you're unsure how old your battery is, ask your mechanic to perform a volt test to see how much life it has left in it.

Get a Synthetic Oil Change in Halfway

To give your vehicle the best synthetic oil change, contact ALF Marketing at (301) 416-0575 to find the best AMSOIL Oil products. For a full range of AMSOIL Oil products or to place an order, stop by their online shop.